Encounter at a Coffee Shop
by imdoingthiswhy
Summary: A chance encounter settles some remaining dust. One-shot


Encounter at a Coffee Shop

Most days life just moves as usual, but sometimes there's a small surprise here and there. Castle walked into a coffee shop a little farther from the precinct than usual and ordered two morning coffees, stating his orders with practiced ease, and encountered one of those surprises. As he waited for the coffee, the man behind him bumped into his arm.

"Sorry," he heard from a familiar voice that he couldn't immediately identify, and turned to find himself looking into the face of Dr. Josh Davidson. Neither man was happy to see the other, but they each realized they were in a public place and needed to be civil.

"Castle."

"Davidson," Castle returned.

Uncomfortably stuck in a space smaller than either of them would like, Josh initiated what he obviously intended to be a minute of small talk as they waited. "You still following Kate?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"You two together yet?"

"We're working on it."

"Right. You didn't jump in and take care of her as soon as I was gone?" he sneered discreetly.

"Actually, I spent the summer assuming you were taking care of her. I would have if she had let me, but she spent the summer with her father – didn't bother to contact anybody else – not even Lanie."

Josh seemed surprised at that and suddenly appeared more concerned. "Is she okay? She should have healed from the surgery by now."

The barista called Castle and Josh at the same time, and they picked up their coffees.

"Physically she's fine. Otherwise, no, but she's working on that." He paused, feeling possessive, and added, "_We're_ working on that." The two of them moved away from the counter.

"I'll just bet you are. Were you were working on that before she left me?"

Pointing out a table near the window, Castle calmly ordered, "Sit down. There are some things you need to hear."

"So you're going to tell me how long you two have really been together?"

Castle sat and motioned to Josh to join him. "I'm telling you nothing until you sit down and stop making this look like a public confrontation."

Josh, finally, grudgingly parked himself at the table; and Castle, with a tremendous effort, held his anger in check long enough to say what he needed to say. "You need to know that Kate never cheated on you. You should know her well enough to know she wouldn't do that. And no matter how much I wanted to, I wouldn't have helped her. For me it would have to be you or me. We're both a little more honorable than you give us credit for. I wanted her to be happy; and if you were what made her happy, I wasn't going to interfere. I confronted her once, it didn't go well…and then she was shot…"

"Then why did I always have the feeling that you were the reason she couldn't commit?"

"Whatever she did or didn't do, it was entirely her choice."

"But you wanted her?"

"I loved her," he admitted…and I hated you."

"Because I had her," he returned, leaning back in his chair. It was a statement more than a question, and it was accompanied by a smug, self-satisfied look.

"That…and you didn't appreciate what you had. She needed you to listen to her…to take care of her...to know what was important to her."

"How could I do that? She didn't often confide in me," he answered angrily."

"Human nature leads us to confide in people who hear what we say…value it. I was there when she tried to tell you about a case she was excited about closing, and you cut her off in mid-sentence to talk about something else…and to rush her to leave for dinner. How often did you do that? Did you ever hear the rest of what she was trying to tell you? I was there, watching her after you left for one of your extended trips…when she knew she'd be alone again. She knew what you were doing was important, but she questioned whether she was cut out to live it with you. There were things that are important to her, things you hardly noticed, glossed over because they weren't important to you…and I was angry for her that you didn't seem to know what was missing. I was there when you weren't. We talked."

"And you heard what she was saying?"

"Every word."

Josh ran his hand through his hair, seeming to consider what Castle said.

Castle couldn't stop himself. It seemed he wasn't over being angry, but he was handling it calmly. "Do you know her favorite color…that she has a comic book collection…her father's name…what she does on the anniversary of her mother's death…how she spends Christmas?"

"You know all that?" He looked at Castle and didn't have to wait for an answer. "How? Did she just tell you?"

"Beckett? Are you kidding? I listened…observed…asked questions. It was important to her…it mattered."

Josh looked somewhat deflated. "I missed a lot, I guess. So you're with her now?"

"Not the way you mean. She's working her way through PTSD, trying to get herself together. She's not ready to commit to anything new yet…but neither of us is looking for anyone else."

That news was obviously a surprise…all of it. "My god. Is she getting help for the PTSD?"

"She is."

"Good." He paused in thought. "There toward the end...a couple of times I wondered out loud if maybe… I guess she was right. I was just jealous." He ran his hand through his hair again, looking a little sheepish. "I guess I owe both of you an apology."

"Accepted, but I can't speak for Kate."

"Well, if I run into her one morning, I'll take care of that, too." He stood to leave and hesitantly held out his hand in Castle's direction. "Truce?"

"Truce," Castle answered, standing and accepting the proffered hand; then he picked up the two coffees and walked back toward the order counter.

"You've already got two coffees," Josh commented. "Are mornings that rough at the station?"

Castle chuckled. "One is Kate's. It's a morning ritual. You know how she is without her coffee. And this one will be on its way to cold by the time she gets it. I'm getting a replacement." He re-ordered as Josh watched.

"You know how she takes her coffee, too. How long did it take you to figure that out?"

"The first day we stopped at a coffee shop."

"Because you listened?"

"Because I listened."

Josh shook his head, wondering how much more he had missed. "I'm not the bad guy, Castle. Maybe not as observant as some, but not the bad guy. I did love her. I want her to be happy, too, and I want her to get better. If that means you…" He took in a deep breath before he continued. "Take care of her. Okay? I did listen enough to know she's been through a lot, and she deserves to be happy."

"I intend to, as long as she'll have me. And I do remember that I'll never have enough words to thank you for keeping her alive."

Josh nodded and took another deep, resigned breath. This time Castle offered his hand first, and they shook hands again before Josh left.

Then Castle turned to pick up the fresh, hot caffeine and left the shop to deliver Kate her morning "I love you." disguised in a coffee cup.


End file.
